NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1793, 4 July 1913, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

A cableqbam published this week stated that the Government majority in the British House of Commons on the financial resolution ( of the Welsh Church Disestablishment Bill was only 10. The Ministry must have felt that the voting was unpleasantly close, especially in view of the fact that great pressure has recently been brought to bear on tho Government by the supporters of the Bill to force the measure through. It has also been rumoured that the Welsh members may be called upon to vote against the Government if any further concessions are allowed. Even yet, as the Times states, it does not necessarily follow that the Bill will be .passed, for there is still time for the nation at large "to consider seriously the fate with which the National Church is threatened by the Bill which the Home Secretary considers a fair, and just measure of religious equality in Wales." It not only means disestablishment of the Welsh Church, but also dismemberment of the Church of England, of which the Church in Wales forms an integral part. Tho country has yet to face the fact that the present proposal is the first step' towards the disestablishment of the Church in England. It is not surprising that the Anglican Church is making a strong appeal to the people, and the great demonstrations which are being held throughout the country are certainly making an impression. The disestablishment of the Church of England would , certainly be a tremendous undertaking, but there is nevertheless much to be said in favour of the contention th'at it should stand or fall as a whole, and not be subjected to a process of dismemberment. There are indications that many of those who favour tho disestablishment in Wales are very uneasy about the justice of the disendowment proposals. The fate of the Ministry and the fate of the Home Rule and Welsh Disestablishment Bills seem to be bound up together.

The gentle Socialist had his innings at the Unity Congress yesterday, and after a somewhat heated struggle emerged in a rather bedraggled state from the encounter. The trouble occurred over the preamble to the constitution of the new organisation. It was really a delightful preamble from the Socialist point of view; almost a masterpiece .of fine-sounding rubbish, sandwiched between threats of syndicalism and confiscation. "Between these two classes (workers and employers)," one clause ran, "a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organise as a class, take possession of the earth, and the machinery of production, and abolish the wage system." At present, it will be seen, the sun," moon, and stars are to be allowed to pursue their daily routine unhampered by any threats of confiscatory action. Our Socialist friends for the moment will be content with the earth. Unhappily the preamble had to be sacrificed on the altar of Unity. The struggles of the Socialist and the "lied Feds" were in vain, the Congress deciding, by 175 to IGI votes, to jettison the precious production, and leave the constitution to introduce and explain itself. It is significant of the desire for peaceful settlement of their differences that the leader of the defeated taction called for three cheers for Unity, which the official vouorts

tell lis were twice given. It will be interesting to observe whether this self-sacrificing spirit displayed by the more aggressive element at the congress will be practised by the less militant gentlemen when ' they, in turn, suffer defeat. It is more likely, we imagine, that the generous manner in which the "Red Flaggers" accepted the verdict of the congress will encourage their there to demand more than they are fairly entitled to 'by way of concessions to their own, point of view. Still, progress has been made. Up to date it has been decided that there shall be two organisations under the one banner; one industrial, the other political. It has also been agreed to .abandon the preamble. The constitution remains to be disposed of, and what has preceded its consideration will be mere skirmishing compared to the battle which is likely to rage around its various clauses. We do not know whether the closure is a recognised engine of Socialist warfare, and it' might be dangerous to attempt to enforce it on 400 delegates much given to free speech, but unless more rapid progress is made with the business of the congress, tlie public must expect to remain for some timo in suspense as to whether the Unity movement is to become an accomplished fact.

That the time has come for an up-to-date central railway station in Wellington, worthy of the city, and commensurate with the large amount of traffic and other business which has to bo handled, is admitted by everyone who is competent to form an'opinion on the subject, and Mr. Massey certainly did not exaggerate the shortcomings of the existing accommodation when ho informed a deputation on Wednesday that Wellington is very badly off in this respect, and that neither of its stations is worthy of a third or fourthclass New Zealand town. Of course, such a frank admission could not be allowed to stand alone, and the Prime Minister went on to say that the Government contemplated, as soon as the financial position of the country admitted, having plans prepared for a central station, and going on with it. This is satisfactory, as far as it goes; but it ought also to be made quite clear that the claims of Wellington in this matter must take precedence of any similar demands from other centres. The people of Wellington have been wonderfully patient, and have for years put up with many inconveniences. The erection of an elaborate and palatial building is not asked for. All that is wanted is a station that will be presentable in appearance, adequate for present requirements, and capable of extension to meet future developments. The Prime Minister did not fix a time for the commencement of the work, but the Minister for Railways carried the matter a little further by stating that though he feared it could not be started this year, yet ho hoped to get a loan next year for the purpose. It is to be hoped that tho construction of the new central railway station is now actually in sight, and that there will be no further delays.

The decisive defeat of Parke, the crack English player—who was so largely responsible for carrying the Davis Cup back to England—by tho brilliant young American champion, M'Loughlin, makes the outlook for the retention of the trophy by the British I ; sles rather a gloomy one. Parke, we should say, is unquestionably the best of the leading English players to-day, and for him to be beaten in three straight sets by a member of one of the challenging teams for the Davis Cup is not encouraging. Moreover, in the American team is another young player, Williams, who closely rivals M'Loughlin for first place, and, although not quite so certain in his game as M'Loughlin, will be extremely hard to beat; The American team has still two heats to play before it reaches the challenge round —assuming that it is successful in winning both the heats. It will have a very hard task set it to beat the ' German team which scored a meritorious win over a brilliant French contingent, But in the event of winning that heat— which it will probably do—it should have no difficulty in securing the right to challenge the holders of the Cup. The British Isles team to defend the Cup contains two of the players who came out to Australia last year—Parke and Dixon—and with them are associated two veterans, Gore and Roper Barrett. The team is stronger than that of last year, and in point of experience and generalship will have a distinct advantage over the Americans, at any rate in the singles. The brilliancy of tho challenging team, however, will probably win them the day—always assuming, of course, that it is the Americans who reach the final round.

If Me. Hanan is not very careful his friends oil the Opposition benches will begin to suspect that he has fallen a victim to the eloquence of the other 399 Labour delegates to the Unity Congress. One of his utterances yesterday would almost seem to indicate that the rising tide of Lab-our-Socialism had swept him from his unsafe anchorage in the insecure holding ground of "Liberalism," into the harbour decorated with the flags and banners of his fellow toilers of the Red Ribbon. To quote the official report: Mr. Hanan, JI.P. (Invercargill Bootmakers' Union) said: Let them sink their differences on a preface and get to the planks of their platform. He urged them not to overload their platform, but to adopt such reasonable measures as would appeal to the largest number. If they did that the Lalxmr flag would soon wave all over New Zealand. Now, it must bo very plain that if the Labour flag which Mr. Hanan is assisting to raise into prominence is to wave all over New Zealand, the much bespattered banner of "Liberalism" under which Mr. Hanan secured Cabinet rank for a few weeks, and under which he still " professes to serve, will be trampled underfoot. Where, then, is Mr. Hanan politically ? Is he with the Labour party, or is he still with his old party, or is he "on the fence?"

Full details are published in this issue of the recommendations submitted to the Government by the directors of the Bank of New Zealand in connection with the readjustment of the bank's affairs, rendered necessary by the, expiry of the term for which the million of Government Guaranteed Stock was issued. It will be seen that the recommendations would involve a very material strengthening of the bank's financial position, and would enable it to develop its business and extend its influence throughout the Dominion. No doubt this latter fact has been a factor in feadiug the directors to pi'ividfl, un-

dcr their proposals, for the State •securing a proportion of the new share capital recommended, and thus entitle it to continue to share in the control of the bank's affairs. We do not propose to discuss the merits of the. recommendations, although it may be said that in most rcspccts they seem not unreasonable. It should be pointed out, however, that no mention is made at all of tho extent to which the State ■ should exercise the power to control the bank by means of its nominees on the Board of Directors, and by virtue of its power to appoint an auditor with considerable authority. At present the State nominates four out of tho six members of the Board of Directors. One of the desires of the shareholders is that this dominance in the control of the baiiK shall be relinquished. As the recommendations of the Board of Directors contain no reference to this matter, it is to be assumed that the board either could not agree on tho point, or that they considered it dependent largely on the prior settlement of tho questions relating to the State's future financial interest in tho institution. No doubt tho views of tho shareholders will be clearly set forth at to-day's meeting.